One of the best grapplers to ever enter the UFC, Demian Maia, has indicated he'd be open to returning to his roots as his MMA career comes to a close. 

The 2007 ADCC 88kg champion – who has an MMA record of 28-10 with 14 submission wins – revealed the news on jiu-jitsu expert analyst Riccardo Ammendolia's new podcast. 

Maia has made his name as one of the very best exponents of grappling in the UFC, but diehard fans will remember his days competing both gi and no-gi. From competing against Roger Gracie and Saulo Ribeiro to grappling Braulio Estima, Xande Ribeiro and even fellow UFC fighter Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Maia had a long grappling career that reached its zenith in 2007 when he beat Rafael Lovato Jr., Tarsis Humphreys, and Flavio Almeida to win ADCC gold. 

And it seems that the 42-year-old is interested in stepping back onto the mat once his MMA career is over, which might not be too far away. 

Riccardo Ammendolia: The entire grappling community wants to know, would you consider going back to do a grappling superfight, whether gi or no-gi? Everybody’s dream fight is to see you and Jacare again, or maybe somebody from that generation. Is that something you’d be open to? 

Demian Maia: Yeah, I don’t think about nobody. I’d be open to that, I got a lot of invitations, I want to do that. My team and I, we are very professional, we’re still in the UFC. I have one more fight, probably. But for sure, I want to bring some experience that I had in the high-level training that I had in the UFC. Yeah, I will do at least one more [grappling match]. 

The hour-long podcast delves into many topics, and the usually-reserved Maia reveals some golden nuggets during their conversation, including that news that he has tapes of his matches going all the way back to blue belt. He said he even has tapes of world-famous grapplers in their early careers, such as matches featuring Andre Galvao vs Marcelo Garcia when they were teenagers.

Watch the full show here: